The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1543845
APRIL 2026 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 41 ❱ MICHIGAN BASKETBALL and the University of Michigan. We're very proud he joined us." Lendeborg notched 16 points and 7 rebounds in the 84-70 win at Illinois that clinched the outright title Feb. 27, while Johnson and Mara added 19 each. It was the first time since 2014 that Michigan beat MSU, Purdue, and Illinois on the road in the same year, and all of them were by double digits. The Wolverines became the first team since 1976 (Indiana) to win every conference road game, the first team ever to win 10 away from home and 19 overall in Big Ten play. "These guys, because they're super teammates, they've become a super team," May said. "Our secret sauce is how great of teammates these guys are, period." U-M DOMINATES BIG TEN POSTSEASON AWARDS Michigan basketball won the Big Ten this season, capturing a title by four games over MSU, Nebraska, and Illinois. Their team reward was a No. 1 seed in the Big Ten Tournament and very likely a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tourney, as well. As for the individual awards … those also rolled in, announced March 10. Forward Yaxel Lendeborg won the Big Ten Player of the Year award from both the coaches and media, also making the conference's first team All-Big Ten squad. He is Michigan's first Big Ten Player of the Year since Nik Stauskas in 2013-14 and essentially clinched it with a 27-point performance in a 90-80 win over Michigan State March 8. "He's still scratching the surface," head coach Dusty May said before the announcement. "As you saw a couple of the plays [against MSU], he had one rebound that I was shocked he could jump that high. Because he's so new to the game, he doesn't understand how impactful he can be, and he's already incredibly impactful. "To me, if he's not Big Ten Player of the Year, then I'll be shocked. But what- ever, he's done everything. He's outper- formed his contract; he's outperformed all expectations up to this point, but he still has to get better. And we still have one big goal to chase … actually two big goals to chase in the Big Ten Tourna- ment championship and in the NCAA Tournament." May, meanwhile, earned Big Ten Coach of the Year honors from the me- dia, while Nebraska's Fred Hoiberg was voted Coach of the Year by his peers. May is U-M's first Coach of the Year honoree since Juwan Howard in 2020-21. Other honors and notes: • Michigan junior center Aday Mara won the Big Ten's De- fensive Player of the Year award, and he also earned All-Defensive team nods w i t h L e n d e b o rg a n d Morez Johnson Jr., who was also named to the All- Big Ten second team by the media and third team by the coaches. Mara was also a third-team honoree per both the coaches and media. • Michigan's three de- fensive team members match how many it has had combined over the last two decades, with Zavier Simpson (2018- 1 9 ) , J o r d a n M o r g a n (2012-13) and Ekpe Udoh (2007-08) being the last three players named. • Michigan's guards also took home some h a rdwa re , w i t h Trey M c Ke n n ey n a m e d to the All-Freshman team. Point guard Elliot Cadeau was named an honorable mention All-Big Ten per- former by the media. — Chris Balas ❱ 2025-26 U-M Men's Basketball Schedule (29-2 overall, 19-1 B1G) Date Opponent Result/Time (TV) Nov. 3 OAKLAND W, 121-78 Nov. 11 vs. Wake Forest* W, 85-84 (OT) Nov. 14 at TCU W, 67-63 Nov. 19 MIDDLE TENNESSEE W, 86-61 Nov. 24 vs. San Diego State^ W, 94-54 Nov. 25 vs. Auburn^ W, 102-72 Nov. 26 vs. Gonzaga^ W, 101-61 Dec. 6 RUTGERS W, 101-60 Dec. 9 VILLANOVA W, 89-61 Dec. 13 at Maryland W, 101-83 Dec. 21 LA SALLE W, 102-50 Dec. 29 MCNEESE W, 112-71 Jan. 2 USC W, 96-66 Jan. 6 at Penn State W, 74-72 Jan. 10 WISCONSIN L, 91-88 Jan. 14 at Washington W, 82-72 Jan. 17 at Oregon W, 81-71 Jan. 20 INDIANA W, 86-72 Jan. 23 OHIO STATE W, 74-62 Jan. 27 NEBRASKA W, 75-72 Jan. 30 at Michigan State W, 83-71 Feb. 5 PENN STATE W, 110-69 Feb. 8 at Ohio State W, 82-61 Feb. 11 at Northwestern W, 87-75 Feb. 14 UCLA W, 86-56 Feb. 17 at Purdue W, 91-80 Feb. 21 vs. Duke# L, 68-63 Feb. 24 MINNESOTA W, 77-67 Feb. 27 at Illinois W, 84-70 Mar. 5 at Iowa W, 71-68 Mar. 8 MICHIGAN STATE W, 90-80 Mar. 13 Big Ten Tournament Quarters$ TBA Mar. 14 Big Ten Tournament Semis$ TBA Mar. 15 Big Ten Tournament Final$ TBA All times Eastern * Wolverine-Deacon Challenge at Detroit ^ truTV Players Era Championship at Las Vegas # Duel in The District at Washington, D.C. $ at Chicago Yaxel Lendeborg is Michigan's first Big Ten Player of the Year since Nik Stauskas in 2014. Lendeborg also was named first-team All- Big Ten and made the All-Defensive team. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL